Chronic inflammation: Cause of more than half of deaths worldwide

As of 2019, inflammation was contributing to more than half of all deaths worldwide, said a paper published in Nature Medicine. According to George Slavich, Ph.D., co-author of the report, inflammation is also a top driver of cognitive aging and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s. But a surprising finding in the past decade is that inflammation plays a role also in mental health like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorder.

Nine out of the 10 diseases on the top list of causes of death from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are inflammation-related. Some of these conditions are cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders.

There are two types of inflammation: after an acute injury or infection and the other is the one that lingers in our body. The first type usually resolves by itself with rest, fluid, and painkillers.

The second type is the root cause of more than half of all deaths worldwide. And this is what physicians should focus their preventive efforts on. “This results in a type of chronic inflammation sometimes referred to as inflammaging,” explained Simin Nikbin Meydani Maydani, DVM, Ph.D., at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

Inflammaging is the lead actor in the development of chronic diseases, difficulty fighting off bacteria and viruses, and the exaggerated immune-system response resulting in extensive tissue injury, organ failure, and death as seen in COVID-19 pandemic.

The good news about inflammaging is with self-discipline many of us can reduce and even prevent the bad results of inflammation. Some of these steps include changing our diet to a Mediterranean style filled with healthy fats, plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, fish, and nuts. The healthy polyunsaturated fats are found in fatty fish like, salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring trout, and sardines; soybean, soymilk; sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds; flaxseed, walnuts, and tofu. Fruits and vegetables are packed with anti-inflammatory power, the more we eat them the longer our life span.

A study on Alzheimer’s and dementia published in 2015 found that older adults who followed the MIND diet closely had a 53 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease than people who didn’t follow it.

Next to diet management is getting plenty of muscle movements which can boost our immune system. Aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and lungs working, like brisk walking and running, is another huge step in fighting chronic inflammation.

One 2022 study on neurology followed a group of people over 10 years and found that regular exercise and physical activities like visiting with family and friends, and doing household chores resulted in a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Stress management can also help since stress is an important contributor to inflammation. According to Slavich, “What we’ve found is if you bring somebody into the laboratory and stress them for five to 10 minutes, you induce an inflammatory response that lasts for one to two hours.”

A top prescription to prevent or reduce stress is mindfulness-based techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy and deep breathing. Using these methods, you are changing the way your brain perceives day-to-day events. However, mindfulness requires longer daily practice to acquire. But once you get it, you can do it anytime and almost anywhere.

Make sure you also have quality sleep for seven to eight hours. Research has shown that disrupted sleep also adds to systemic inflammation.

A blood test C-Reactive Protein, if above 8 milligrams/liter persistently is an objective indicator that you have chronic systemic inflammation.

Leonardo L Leonidas, M.D.,

Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston